FUTURE OF BBC THREE

That this House is concerned at the proposal of BBC management to recommend the closure of BBC Three by autumn 2015; notes that this is the first time in the BBC's history that it has proposed to close a television channel; further notes that BBC Three has given birth to hugely popular content such as Little Britain and Gavin and Stacey, alongside innovative current affairs programmes aimed at a youth audience such as the 60 Seconds format; regrets that this £50 million saving follows an extensive round of cuts and job losses under the Delivering Quality First agenda and is a result of the freeze in the licence fee together with having to absorb the World Service, S4C and the roll-out of broadband; fears that the proposal will lead to compulsory redundancies; urges BBC management to take this proposal off the table pending the outcome of negotiations over renewal of its Royal Charter; and joins the National Union of Journalists in urging all parties to commit to an uprating of the TV licence by at least the rate of inflation in order to ensure that quality diverse public service broadcasting that plays an enormous role in the broader creative industry can continue to flourish.